22 Aug 09 Is my knowledge being reduced to pointers?

Tags: google, technology, wikipedia

After studying for a test this past week, I reaffirmed a theory of mine. It’s not technically a theory. It is already happening, and I think most people can agree.

I have to remember about 300 pages for a test. I’ve realised how I remember the knowledge. I remember where the information and even sometimes how the data was structured on the page, but I couldn’t remember the details. To me, it feels like the pointers to memory that are used in computers.

I feel that our generation, driven by the internet (Google and Wikipedia) where we have a wealth of information at our fingertips start to think about our knowledge in a different way. We don’t make the effort to remember all the data, but rather only remember where to get it, once we need it.

So in essence, my knowledge is being reduced to a bank of pointers of which Google and Wikipedia are the most important (Wolfram to a lesser extent).

In the past, it could’ve existed to a lesser extent, ie just go to the library to get your information, but the effort required was much greater. To me it is apparent that it is becoming more profound.

Is it good or bad? I’d say, it’s a natural progression for the merging of humans and technology. I’m no expert on “brain power”, but it seems obvious that we don’t to spend too much time to remember it all, but rather spending time on applying our knowledge.